"Seven Seven 07" 20070707-11 Night Mediterranean Cruise

[cohartman]

I saw another poster that has a count down clock! Something like 4 months, 3 weeks, 12 days etc. It will be here very quickly.

I have been looking at the excursions and trying to research that part. It is overwhelming. I think for the So France, I will plan to hang at the beach. Hope to have all of the shopping out oy my system by then!!!!!

 

[Hanover]

We are booked on this cruise too. It will be me, DH, DS then 6, DS then 10 and my MIL. We will be in 6082 and 6083.

I lived in Sicily for 3 years when I was a child and England for 4 1/2 years as a teen (my dad was in the Navy) and though I have visited the cities we will be sailing to on the Magic, I'm sure they have changed a great deal. I can't wait to see them again and share the sights with my boys.

We are looking at flights and looks like British Air has the best deal for us. We will be flying out of Baltimore.

We will probably do a mix of DCL excursions and some on our own.

 

[MJGirl]

Welcome aboard Hanover

 

[cohartman]

Are you landing in London first? We booked the direct Virgin Atlantic from San Francisco to London. Staying there 2 days before the Cruise. We are having tea with the activities director from the Magic from our cruise in 2005!! She is no longer with DIS.

The Old Globe and Crown Jewels are the other two spots our 10 yr old DD is planning.

Just need to book the crzy expensive hotel in London. Makes SF look like a bargain!!!

 

[MJGirl]

Hi ... I'm going crazy this vacation. It is just my DD 16 and I. We have booked Adventures by Disney London and Paris before the cruise. I'm flying into London on the 29th then flying into Barcelona from Paris on the 6th. Are you staying overnight in Barcelona before the cruise??? I'm at the Hilton.

 

[cohartman]

Hi, we will be in London the 5th to the 7th. We will stay in Barcelona for 2 nights following the cruise before heading back to SF. Not sure where we will stay in London yet. Working on that.

 

[Hanover]

Thanks for the welcome.

We will be flying through London, but coming in early on the 7th to Barcelona. I'm not keen at all flying in on embarkation day, but DH is a police officer and cannot get off before July 6 at all. Likewise, we will have to leave on the 18th so my MIL can get back for a meeting she is in charge of at her work the following day. We are doing a Western Magic cruise in December too, so we will be pushing it on vacation time with work.

I wish we could have spent some time in London and Paris (Disneyland) but we'll have to do it another time.

 

[Dylcal]

Welcome Hanover!! Could Hanover refer to Hanover, MD? I am from Odenton and will be leaving from BWI also! It is just me and my son who will be 13! Welcome aboard!

 

[Hanover]

Welcome Hanover!! Could Hanover refer to Hanover, MD? I am from Odenton and will be leaving from BWI also! It is just me and my son who will be 13! Welcome aboard!

Actually, it's Hanover, PA. We are about 20 minutes north of Westminister, right over the PA line. We used to live in Elkridge (near Hanover, MD) for 6 years before moving here in 2002. DH and I both went to UMBC in Catonsville and graduated from there in 1995, so I'm very familiar with Howard County/AA County. I used to work in Annapolis and would drive through Odenton all the time. DH works in Cockeysville, near Towson for Baltimore County.

 

[Hanover]

MJGirl,

I just saw your banner for the 2008 EB Repo cruise. This thread is much easier than keeping up with that one. Every time I check it out, there are literally dozens if not hundreds of posts. It's hard to believe there are over 1100 pages and the cruise is 18 months from now!

 

[Dylcal]

You would not recognize Odenton now! It has really changed over the past few years!

 

[Hanover]

You would not recognize Odenton now! It has really changed over the past few years!

I bet it has! We go to Arundel Mills Mall every couple of months and that area has grown dramatically in the last 5 years and continues to grow. Our area has also nearly doubled in size (and price) since we've moved here. 99% of my neighbors are from Maryland and still work there.

 

[Shercara]

Hi everyone - trying to catch up to speed here, as the cruise is getting closer!

Deb T - I owe you an old answer - yes we booked air on our own, out of Newark for about $1060each. I've been checking the current prices and have seen it between 1200 & 1700 for the same flights -I am glad we booked in Nov!

I've been going through Disney's excursions, and am tempted to do some on our own. There is great info over on the cc message boards regarding western med. ports, as those folks have been sailing on other cruise lines to these ports for years. There is great info on taking a train to Pompeii and to Rome, and also lots of private driver info for most of the ports. Also one lady who lives in Barcelona gives out great tips and answers questions.

Is anyone thinking of doing a tour on their own, or would like to share the expenses with our family of 4? DH, DS18, DS12, and me? There is a lot of info about private tours/drivers.

Take care,
Sherri

 

[Shercara]

OH - and we finally told our sons about the cruise at Christmas - and they were THRILLED!! Now we can all plan together! DS18 said he "doesn't want to waste time at a beach - he wants to see everything!" I think we need to invest in some good comfortable walking shoes and will need a vacation after this vacation! DS12 is learning about Ancient Rome in school, so the timing is just perfect!! I CAN'T WAIT!!

Sher

 

[Dylcal]

I bet it has! We go to Arundel Mills Mall every couple of months and that area has grown dramatically in the last 5 years and continues to grow. Our area has also nearly doubled in size (and price) since we've moved here. 99% of my neighbors are from Maryland and still work there.

We are at Arundel Mills quite often -- we love the movie theatre! Perhaps we can have a mini cruise meet and shop for Med attire!!

I am trying to get my son to decide on the excursions so that I can post my wish list. I always do Disney for the "safety factor" and I know that you have to call as soon as you can to get the best ones! I will be up early 90days out! Happy planning everyone!

 

[MJGirl]

MJGirl,

I just saw your banner for the 2008 EB Repo cruise. This thread is much easier than keeping up with that one. Every time I check it out, there are literally dozens if not hundreds of posts. It's hard to believe there are over 1100 pages and the cruise is 18 months from now!

I agree with you about the repo thread. I just can't keep up with them. Do they ever sign off?? So can I assume you are on the Repo cruise as well? We will have to chat on the boat about it. The Med will be our first cruise, so I'm hoping that cruising agrees with my daughter and I. If not, then I'll put my cabin up for the highest bidder (Just kidding ... I know your husband is a police officer and wouldn't want this to be construed as scalping )

 

[ugarxdawg]

Hey! Time is going by pretty fast! We booked an apartment in Barcelona for before the cruise and an apartment in Paris for the week after the cruise. Now there are only 98 things left on my list.

 

[Hanover]

I agree with you about the repo thread. I just can't keep up with them. Do they ever sign off?? So can I assume you are on the Repo cruise as well? We will have to chat on the boat about it. The Med will be our first cruise, so I'm hoping that cruising agrees with my daughter and I. If not, then I'll put my cabin up for the highest bidder (Just kidding ... I know your husband is a police officer and wouldn't want this to be construed as scalping )

I can't keep up with them either. I usually stick with reading the summaries/updates on the first post! We still don't have a room assignment for the repo, but I see DCL.com is showing it's still sold out. Our TA said they had hundreds on the wait list for it too.

The 7/7/07 will be our 4th DCL cruise. I honestly can't think of anything your daughter wouldn't like except getting off the ship when it's over! My boys would rather cruise DCL than do anything else including all the WDW parks.
DS5 (he'll be 6 on Thursday) and I tend to get seasick on small boats, but do fine on the Wonder and Magic. I don't give him anything unless we go on an excursion with a small boat. His pediatrician said small kids usually don't get seasick on large cruise ships because their inner ear isn't fully developed and they are lower to the deck than adults. I take Bonine the entire cruise and as long as we have a midship stateroom, I am fine. I've done the patches, but prefer Bonine.

 

[Hanover]

We are at Arundel Mills quite often -- we love the movie theatre! Perhaps we can have a mini cruise meet and shop for Med attire!!

I am trying to get my son to decide on the excursions so that I can post my wish list. I always do Disney for the "safety factor" and I know that you have to call as soon as you can to get the best ones! I will be up early 90days out! Happy planning everyone!

Sounds good! Right now our weekends belong to wrestling matches, but that should be over next month (in time for baseball of course). I haven't even thought of clothing. Seeing the luggage weight limits of some of the airlines scares me. We brought 2 suitcases a piece just for the 7 day cruise! I guess I'll have to break down and do laundry. We did the whole tux thing for the boys and the pirate costumes last May. I'm not sure if they'll do tuxes this July. They grew out of them between May and our December cruise. They couldn't even fit into their sports coats they wore for semi formal night either.

I've looked over the excursions and the ones we really want to do are in Rome, Pisa, and Pompeii. We may just do the beach in Sardinia and Nice and local cabs, tours, etc. at the other ports. I agree with the safety factor and DCL, it was just some are a ton of $$$ for what they offer and others just don't appeal to us.

My MIL said yesterday she's still not sure if she wants to do this cruise?! We didn't even consider going on it until she told us how much she wanted to go with us to Europe and DH said we'd go on DCL, but didn't care for other cruise lines. We cancelled a land/sea vacation we were going to do at POR/Wonder in August to put a deposit/payment down on this one. DS9 has even checked out books on Rome, Pompeii and Sicily from his school library. I sure hope she makes her mind up sooner than later!!

I agree about the 90 day bookings for excursions, Palo, etc. I couldn't believe that when I tried to book Palo at 7 AM on our 7 day it was 99% booked for dinners and no brunches or high teas left. We did get to book brunch on board, but never had openings for high tea.

I have done the spa treatments, but they are a lot of $$ too and I didn't think were really worth it. I've had much better treatments done locally for half the money. They were relaxing though so maybe just one... I also learned from experience to put "no sales pitch" on the paperwork and it honestly works. I was scared to go back after my first hot stone massage/facial on our first cruise when the spa woman wanted me to buy $500 in supplies and gave me a 20 minute lecture on how I needed all of it. When I said I'd talk it over with my husband and get back to her (I had no intention of buying it, just thought I was being nice) she said "Don't you have your own money??" I was taken aback and didn't give her the full tip I was going to give initially.

 

[APinCA]

Booked Disneyland Paris post-cruise today

Staying at the Santa Fe for four nights. DCL's packages are for three nights with no add-ons. Our package was a little less than the less expensive three night with DCL.

Still need a hotel in London, and to decide on excursions